BPG acquires Conshohocken office tower

One Tower Bridge, an office tower in West Conshohocken, Pa., was recently acquired by Buccini/Pollin Group. | PHOTO COURTESY OF BPG

WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. – Wilmington-based developer Buccini/Pollin Group recently acquired a Class A office tower in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

The deal for One Tower Bridge, a 271,678-square-foot office building along the bank of the Schuylkill River northwest of Philadelphia, closed on March 31. The price of acquisition was not disclosed in a Wednesday announcement by BPG, and Montgomery County, Pa., land records do not yet reflect a deed transfer. However, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported that the sale price was $59 million.

The 15-story building built in 1989 was previously owned by a joint venture by real estate development firm Oliver Tyrone Pulver and the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust. The owners had reportedly invested $5.9 million in renovations and maintenance of the building since 2014.

BPG plans to invest $9 million in its own capital improvements of the property, including garage and plaza renovations, common area restroom and corridor upgrades, ground level lobby enhancements, and exterior façade work.

At a time when office real estate faces headwinds, the deal for One Tower Bridge marks some stability in the portfolio, as 65% of the tenants that leased space after initial construction 33 years ago have been retained. It is anchored by wealth management firm Morgan Stanley, which occupies more than a third of the leasable area and has a lease through December 2029. In total, the office tower is 92% leased.

BPG currently manages 7 million square feet of commercial office space, which includes investments in the Conshohocken office market since acquiring Quaker Park in 2005. BPG also manages Swedesford Park in nearby Wayne, Pa.

“It is with great excitement that One Tower Bridge joins the BPG portfolio of best-in-class office, residential, hotel, retail, sports and entertainment projects throughout the United States,” said Chris Buccini, co-president of BPG, in a statement announcing the deal. “We remain committed to the office sector overall and the Conshohocken market in particular, which continues to be the location of choice for both nationally recognized corporations and prominent locally-based tenants. We are honored to continue the legacy of the original developer, Donald Pulver of Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corporation, in managing one of the region’s most prestigious office addresses and providing a home to some of the most prestigious tenants in the region.”

Although BPG is well-known in Delaware for investing heavily in its Wilmington home, the firm has increasingly been investing in office, hotel and entertainment projects nationwide, including in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Orlando, New Orleans, and elsewhere. Its assets currently total more than $6 billion.